Error keeps income tax repeal off ballot

Published: August 29, 2000 12:00 AM

A citizen's petition to repeal the West Salem income tax will not appear on the November ballot because of a mistake with the signatures -- there was one more on the petition than there was supposed to be.

The initiative petition was circulated to repeal the 0.75 percent West Salem village income tax.

The petition was submitted to the Wayne County Board of Elections Aug. 24, but was rejected because the board found there was one more signature on the petition than had been certified, according to Patty Johns, director of the board of elections.

State law is "very specific" on the issue, Johns said. In this case, she said, "the entire petition must be disqualified."

Village clerk Patricia Foradori said, "You have to be very careful when you circulate petitions that everything is certified and done according to the state law. You have to be very careful to certify the right number of signatures on each petition."

[Article continues below]

JoAnn Leiby, chairman of the Protect the People committee, was responsible for circulating the petition.

She said there was a problem with the petition, but did not want to comment on the situation.

"There was a problem," Leiby said. "It was my mistake, but I don't want to comment."

The village income tax was passed in 1997 and went into effect in January 1998.

Village residents repealed it in the Nov. 3, 1998, election by a 2-to-1 margin.

Council then agreed to reinstate the income tax in November 1998, extending the annual income tax from Nov. 23 to Dec. 31, 1998.

The income tax was repealed for the second time in the Nov. 1999 election.

Council reinstituted the tax in the village, without end, with a provision for an exemption for full-time students earning $5,000 or less.

Leiby said petitions may be circulated next year to put the issue on the November 2001 ballot.

Since it is an initiative petition, it must be voted on during a November election, Foradori said.